A befrienders story
It all begins with an idea.
Here, our befriender explains her experience with us and talks us through the training and her intial matches.
I have been involved with the Befriending service for a couple of years now. I had known about the service for several years as two of my friends were involved but I decided not to volunteer until I was retired and knew I would have the time to commit to my Befriendee.
I received initial training in a group setting with about six other volunteers at the Volunteer Centre in Kirkintilloch. The training session was very well thought out and we were provided with back up notes to take home as an aid memoir. Then before I was paired with my first Befriendee my Link Worker gave me several details over the phone to ensure I was comfortable with the person I would be meeting. The first meeting with the Befriendee was also attended by the Link Worker to help initiate the conversation and ensure the Befriendee was comfortable with me being in their house. We also discussed any activities the Befriendee might like to do during our time together.
I have had two matches so far. These have been two very lovely elderly ladies with a wealth of life experience and memories to share with me. Initially we have found we haven’t had a lot in common in our working or personal lives but in many ways that has given us a lot to talk about and explore and as we compare our life experiences with one another we often do find a lot of similarities in how we have made life choices and in our opinions from cooking to the purpose of the universe!
I get a lot of satisfaction from my visits, its time out from thinking about mundane day to day activities and a chance to focus on something completely different. It always gives me a wee lift if my Befriendee has enjoyed the visit and says they are looking forward to our next get together.